Houghton Lodge Farm

Follow our journey of you are interested in:

• Setting up a new dairy unit with limited own capital to invest
• Joint venture agreements, contract farming, and shareholder investment capital
• Maximising profit from grazing
• People management on a multi-site business
• Youngstock rearing options

Overview

Run by Evolution Farming in a joint venture and financed with £1 million of seed capital, the project has brought life back to a redundant dairy unit at Houghton Lodge Farm.

The money has allowed investment in farm infrastructure including, reseeding the ground previously laid to arable and 20,000 sleepers for cow tracks.

Our farm

The farm has is 428 hectares with a 273 hectare grazing platform. Grass is key to keep costs low and their aim is to enter grass covers at 2,700-2,800kg DM/ha and leave covers of 1,500kg, working to a wedge.

Our herd

Funded separately by Evolution Farming, the initial 585 cow cross-bred herd were bought the day after the referendum vote when prices were at their lowest. Evolution picked up the bulk of herd for £740 a head, which includes some autumn calvers rather than planned fully spring herd. The herd has been growing to 650 over the last few years.

Our journey

The journey at Houghton Lodge has followed the establishment of the new dairy with both the physical and financial transparency completely available for others to learn from

Previous meetings 

• April 2017 - Houghton Lodge strategic farm launch - AHDB's first strategic farm, taking over a redundant dairy unit with the aim returning it to its former glory through close management of all operations and processes
• July 2017 - Financial performance and great grazing - working though financials and how tight management of the business has resulted in profits early in their journey
• October 2017 - Fertility, body condition scoring and financial updates - Learning not available for this event
• March 2018 - First year review - an overview of the progress they have made during their first year as a strategic dairy farm.
• September 2018 - Improving herd replacement systems - Ian Browne from The Farm Consultancy Group gave his top tips on improving herd replacements
• October 2019 - Managing and motivating people - Heather Wildman explores the critical ingredients involved in creating and managing a well-motivated, effective team. 

Explore our other strategic dairy farms